And this won’t be your run-of-the-mill grand opening, either. With their tailgate-type atmosphere and free goodies, Chick-fil-A openings have become so popular that there are groupies who travel around the country attending them.

Some have logged more than twenty Chick-fil-A openings to date. The “First 100 Fans” promotion, as it’s known, was launched in 2003 to mark the opening of the chain’s first stand-alone restaurant in Arizona. Five years later, the event continues to draw fans from around the country. Overnighters – with tents, computers, games and even swimming pools in tow – turn the grand opening event into an all-night party.

“When we first started this promotion, we were stunned when someone arrived 18 hours in advance and asked where he could wait in line,” says Dan Cathy, president of Chick-fil-A and son of its founder. “Five years later, we’ve given away more than $8.5 million in free food across the country to loyal customers who’ve braved snow, wind, rain and triple-digit temperatures to help celebrate the opening of each new Chick-fil-A.”

Starting Wednesday evening, January 7th, the Shelbyville Road parking lot will be filled with tents, games, prizes, live music and dancing, and folks can start lining up at 6:00 a.m. already. Campers will be fed throughout the day, and Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy will join them later on with his own tent and sleeping bag. In all, $26,000 in free Chick-fil-A food will be given away to customers, including a one-year supply of free meals (52 coupons) for each of the first 100 adults, age 18 and older with identification. The line can begin forming up to 24 hours prior to the opening, and prizes will be given away on January 8th sometime between 6:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., with the restaurant opening afterward.

by David Dominé, The Bluegrass Peasant

The new store is named Boombozz Pizza Bistro and is located at 12613 Taylorsville Road in Tyler Center, just north of the Gene Snyder Freeway. The Bistro expands on Palombino’s fast-casual pizza-centered restaurant, Tony Boombozz Pizza and Vino (2813 N Hurstbourne Pkwy.) by adding pasta, sandwiches and salads, wines by the glass and microbrews. The most notable difference is the Bistro’s customers will get full service.

After opening the Hurstbourne location more than two years ago, Palombino told me he believed he’d hit on the perfect combination of high-quality food and customer self-service. But in talking to his customers there, he was convinced they wanted a little more TLC.

“I really think customers want to be relaxed when they eat out, so I wanted to give them more than what we were giving them in Springhurst,” he told me this past summer. “I think the food there is right, but I knew we could do better with service, so we decided to make the next one full-service.”

The Hurstbourne location’s limited selection of adult beverages was a problem as well, he said, and that drove the decision to tap into the growing microbrew trend. Palombino is betting the adults in mid-to-upper-middle class families building new homes in the Bistro’s neighborhood will appreciate the better-than-Bud variety.

To build buzz for the opening, Palombino is borrowing a page from the Chick-fil-A marketing playbook by giving away free pizza for a year (52 coupons for one free pizza per week) to the first 100 adults through the doors at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 6. Like Chick-fil-A, Palombino is encouraging people to line-up 24 hours in advance for the free grub—and promising to keep them company through the night.

“You see grand openings all the time, but I don’t think people really pay much attention,” Palombino said. “I want to do something different this time that people will remember; I don’t want to do just coupons because that’s not what the Bistro concept is all about.”